Permanent magnet synchronous generator based direct current power generating system

ABSTRACT

A method of compensating for rotor position error of a rotor of a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMG) that provides electrical power to a direct current (DC) power generating system, the method including obtaining PMG phase voltages and resolver processed angular position output when the PMG is driven by a prime mover. Once obtained, a PMG fundamental phase voltage waveform is selected by eliminating higher order harmonics. A mechanical angle of the rotor is then converted into an electrical angle, then the electrical angle is aligned within the mechanical angle with a corresponding PMG fundamental phase voltage angle by adjusting offset to the electrical angle. After alignment, a plurality of resolver error offset values associated with the electrical angle are stored and additional values to the compensation table are added by interpolating data between two corresponding resolver error offset values of the plurality of resolver error offset values.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a direct current power generatingsystem, and more particularly, to a resolver error compensationtechnique of a PMG-based direct current power generating system andmethod of operating.

Permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMG) are used in electric powergenerating system for electric or hybrid-electric vehicles. A generatorcontrol unit (GCU) is used to convert variable alternate current (AC)voltage at the output of the PMG into constant direct current (DC)voltage to supply vehicle loads. GCU contains a pulse-width modulate(PWM) converter (i.e. active rectifier) that may require accurateinformation about PMG rotor angular positon for proper commutation ofactive rectifier switches.

Rotor angle may be detected by a resolver. In high power densityapplications, the PMG (with a high number of poles) coupled with aframeless two pole resolver may be used. Output of the resolver may bean electrical signal that corresponds to rotor angle. Resolver outputsmay be sine and cosine analog signals that, when provided to aresolver-to-digital converter (RDC) may produce a digital outputcorresponding to the rotor's absolute angular position.

Various sources of angle error in the output signal of the resolver mayinclude mechanical misalignment, electrical characteristics andconversion time errors. These errors with a multi-pole PMG maysignificantly aggravate accuracy of electrical angle that should bewithin at least one degree to obtain good control of the powergenerating system. Field oriented control of an active rectifier coupledto the PMG may not be accurately implemented over the entire speed rangewithout knowing the actual position of the PMG rotor. It is thereforedesirable to compensate resolver output error caused by misalignment andelectrical sources of error.

SUMMARY

A method of compensating for rotor position error of a rotor of apermanent magnet synchronous generator (PMG) that provides electricalpower to a direct current (DC) power generating system according to one,non-limiting, embodiment of the present disclosure includes obtainingPMG phase voltages and resolver processed angular position outputsignals by a resolver-to-digital (R/D) converter of the DC powergenerating system when the PMG is driven by a prime mover; selecting aPMG fundamental phase voltage waveform by eliminating higher orderharmonics; converting a mechanical angle of a rotor into an electricalangle by an electrical angle and frequency derivation component of theDC power generating system; aligning the electrical angle within themechanical angle with a corresponding PMG fundamental phase voltageangle by adjusting offset to the electrical angle; storing a pluralityof resolver error offset values associated with the electrical angleinto a computer readable storage medium of a digital signal processor(DSP) component; and adding additional values to the compensation tableby interpolating data between two corresponding resolver error offsetvalues of the plurality of resolver error offset values by a computerprocessor of the DSP component.

Additionally to the foregoing embodiment, the method includes runningthe prime mover at a pre-determined speed before obtaining the PMG phasevoltages.

In the alternative or additionally thereto, in the foregoing embodiment,the method includes feeding an excitation signal to a resolver rotorcoil; feeding sinusoidal and cosine-shaped signals from respective coilsof a resolver associated with a rotor of the PMG; deriving angular andspeed values by the R/D converter; and feeding the angular and speedvalues to the DSP component before running the prime mover.

In the alternative or additionally thereto, in the foregoing embodiment,the resolver comprises a two-pole resolver.

In the alternative or additionally thereto, in the foregoing embodiment,the resolver is frameless.

In the alternative or additionally thereto, in the foregoing embodiment,the PMG includes about twenty-eight poles.

A vehicle according to another, non-limiting, embodiment includes aprime mover; a PMG including a rotor coupled to the prime mover forrotation; a resolver including an excitation coil, a first coil and asecond coil positioned approximately ninety degrees from the first coil,and wherein the excitation coil and the first and second coils areassociated with the rotor; a resolver processing and compensation systemconfigured to receive sinusoidal and cosine-shaped analog signals fromthe respective first and second coils, convert the analog signals to adigital signal corresponding to an absolute angular position of therotor, and compensate for angular position error; a DC electrical loadconfigured to receive DC power from the resolver processing andcompensation system; and a vehicle supervisory controller configured tomanage DC power distribution.

Additionally to the foregoing embodiment, the DC electrical loadcomprises an electric traction drive.

In the alternative or additionally thereto, in the foregoing embodiment,the vehicle is an electric automobile.

In the alternative or additionally thereto, in the foregoing embodiment,the vehicle is a hybrid automobile.

In the alternative or additionally thereto, in the foregoing embodiment,the prime mover is an internal combustion engine.

In the alternative or additionally thereto, in the foregoing embodiment,the resolver processing and compensation system includes a computerreadable storage medium configured to store a speed compensation tableand a position compensation table for storing offset data associatedwith the angular position error and used by a computer processor of theresolver processing and compensation system to expand the respectivespeed and position compensation tables by interpolating the storedoffset data.

A DC power generating system according to another, non-limiting,embodiment includes a PMG including a rotor; a resolver including anexcitation coil, a first coil and a second coil positioned approximatelyninety degrees from the first coil, and wherein the excitation coil andthe first and second coils are associated with the rotor; an excitationcomponent configured to electrically excite the excitation coil; aresolver-to-digital converter configured to receive first and secondanalog signals from the respective first and second coils and convertthe first and second analog signals to respective digital rotor angleand digital rotor speed signals; and a digital signal processorcomponent configured to receive the digital rotor angle signal and thedigital rotor speed signal, convert to an electrical angle andcompensate for angular position error of the rotor.

Additionally to the foregoing embodiment, the digital signal processorcomponent includes a computer processor, and a computer readable storagemedium configured to store a speed compensation table and a positioncompensation table for storing offset data associated with the angularposition error and used by the computer processor to expand therespective speed and position compensation tables by interpolating thestored offset data.

In the alternative or additionally thereto, in the foregoing embodiment,the angular position error includes a position angle error and a speedangle error.

The foregoing features and elements may be combined in variouscombinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated otherwise.These features and elements as well as the operation thereof will becomemore apparent in light of the following description and the accompanyingdrawings. However, it should be understood that the followingdescription and drawings are intended to be exemplary in nature andnon-limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various features will become apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following detailed description of the disclosed non-limitingembodiments. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can bebriefly described as follows:

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a vehicle including a, non-limiting, embodimentof a power generating system of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of the power generating system;

FIG. 3 is a schematic of generator control unit (GCU) of the powergenerating system;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method of initializing a process of aresolver processing and compensation system of the GCU;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a process of compensating for position angleerror; and

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a process of compensating for speed angleerror.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment of an electric powergenerating system 20 of the present disclosure is illustrated. Theelectric power generating system 20 may be a DC power generating systemand may be applied to vehicles 22 such as, for example, automobiles. Thevehicle 22 may be an electrically powered vehicle, a hybrid vehicle andothers. As illustrated, the DC power generating system 20 may be drivenor powered by a prime mover 24, and may provide electrical power tovarious electrical loads 26 of the vehicle 22. A vehicle supervisorycontroller 28 (i.e., computer) may monitor the vehicle DC loads 26 andcommunicate with the power generating system 20 to manage and controlpower distribution. The DC power generating system 20 may include apermanent magnet synchronous generator (PMG) 30 and a generator controlunit (GCU) 32 used to convert variable alternate current (AC) voltage atan output of the PMG 30 into a constant direct current (DC) voltage tosupply power to the vehicle loads 26. Non-limiting examples of the primemover 24 may include an internal combustion engine (i.e., for hybridvehicles as one example), and electric motors (i.e., for electricvehicles). Non-limiting examples of vehicle loads 26 may includeelectric drive pumps, fans, export inverters (i.e., to support 60 Hz and400 Hz loads, and electric traction drives powered by a high voltage DCbus (not shown).

Referring to FIG. 2, the GCU 32 may include a resolver 34, a resolverprocessing and compensation system 36, an active rectifier 38, and anactive rectifier controller 40. The resolver and compensation system 36may include a filter 42 an excitation component 44, aresolver-to-digital (R/D) converter 46, and a digital signal processor(DSP) component 50 that may include an electrical angle and frequencyderivation component 48, a computer processor 52 (e.g., microprocessor)and a computer readable storage media or memory 54.

The resolver 34 may be located inside a housing (not shown) of the PMG30. The resolver 34 and the resolver processing and compensation system36 are configured to provide position information of a rotor 56 of thePMG 30. The rotor position information is generally needed for theimplementation of a field orientated control algorithm that facilitatesthe commutating of switches (not shown) of the active rectifier 38. Theresolver 34 may generally be frameless and may be a two-pole resolver.

The resolver 34 may output an electrical signal that corresponds torotor angle. The electrical signal output of the resolver 34 may includesine and cosine analog signals (see respective arrows 58, 60) sent tothe R/D converter 46 of the resolver processing and compensation system36. The R/D converter 46 outputs a digital output signal correspondingto the absolute angular position of the rotor 56. The resolver 34 may bea two-pole resolver that corresponds to a mechanical angle from zero(0°) to three hundred sixty degrees (360°) of the rotor 56. For propercommutation of a multi-pole PMG 30 output, the resolver output isconverted into an electrical angle. This conversion is accomplished bymultiplying the two-pole resolver output by a pair of PMG poles asfollows: where “φ” is the electrical angle, “θ” is the mechanical(rotor) angle, and “P” is the PMG number of poles. One example of anumber of poles of the PMG 30 may be about twenty-eight (28).

The active rectifier 38 of the GCU 32 is coupled to the PMG 30 throughcontactors 62 and is configured to convert AC power to DC power for thevehicle DC loads 26. To facilitate field oriented control of the activerectifier 38 and enable and/or achieve efficient power conversion overan entire speed range of the prime mover 24, the GCU 32 is configured todetermine the actual position of the rotor 56 of the PMG 30 andeliminate or minimize (i.e., compensate for) any errors associated withthe actual position. Various sources of rotor position error in theoutput signals 58, 60 of the resolver 34 may include mechanicalmisalignment, electrical characteristics and conversion time errors.These errors with a PMG 30 having multiple poles may aggravate accuracyof the electrical angle that should be within at least a one degree(1°)to obtain good control of the power generating system 20.

The active rectifier controller 38 communicates with the vehiclesupervisory controller 28 to enable, for example, different operatingmodes such as built-in-test, engine start, and/or generate mode. Thecontactors 62 facilitate disconnect of the active rectifier 38 from thePMG 30 during resolver compensating procedure (i.e., the compensation ofrotor position error) and/or during fault conditions. Referring to FIGS.3 and 4, a method of initializing the resolver compensating proceduremay include a block or step 100 that entails feeding a sinusoidalexcitation signal to an excitation coil 64 by the excitation component44 of the resolver processing and compensation system 36. At block 102sinusoidal and cosine-shaped signals are fed to respective stator coils66, 68 (i.e., windings) arranged perpendicular with respect to eachother on the stator (not shown).

At block 104 of the method of initializing the resolver compensatingprocedure, angular and speed values (see respective arrows 68, 70)derived by the R/D converter 46 are fed to the electrical angle andfrequency derivation component 48 of the DSP component 50, and the speedvalue 70 may also be fed directly to the processor component 52 of theDSP component 50. At block 106, the prime mover 24 is run at apre-determined speed. At block 108, PMG 30 phase voltages (i.e., line toneutral) are obtained and fed to the DSP 50. At block 110, higherharmonics are filtered to select a fundamental component of PMG phase Avoltage (L-N). At block 112, an electrical angle is obtained bymultiplying a rotor angle by the number of PMG pole pairs. At block 114,a sine function is applied to the electrical angle. At block 116, asector number is defined by assigning each sinusoidal waveform derivedfrom the rotor angle. The sector number may generally be expressed by asector length that equals 360 degrees divided by the number of polepairs. In one example, for a PMG having twenty-eight (28) poles and witha two pole resolver, the sector length is as follows:

Sector Length=360°/14=25.714°

In this example, the total sectors is equal to fourteen (14). Electricalangle is aligned in each sector with the PMG phase voltage angularposition.

Referring to FIG. 5, an exemplary process of compensating position angleerror conducted at least in-part via the DSP component 50, isillustrated. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, at block 200 positioncompensation factor(s) are started. At block 202 a counter is reset byleading edge of zero-crossing detector responsive to PMG phase A voltagefundamental component. At block 204 the counter data is latched byleading edge of zero-crossing detector responsive to sin waveform ofelectrical angle. At block 206, the processor 52 of the DSP component 50determines if the counter data is greater than a pre-determined number.If ‘yes,’ then at block 208 an increment is set to a positive offsetvalue; otherwise, at block 210, the increment is set to a negativeoffset value. After either of blocks 208, 210, at block 212 the offsetis incremented. At block 214, the incremented offset is added to theelectrical angle (see block 112 in FIG. 4). At block 216, the counter isreset by leading edge of zero-crossing detector responsive to PMG phase‘A’ voltage fundamental component. At block 218 the counter data islatched by leading edge of zero-crossing detector responsive to sinewaveform of electrical angle. At block 220, the processor 52 of the DSPcomponent 50 determines if the counter data is greater than previousvalue. If ‘no,’ the process returns to block 212; otherwise, at block222, the offset is stored in a position compensation table 72 stored inmemory 54 of the DSP component 50.

At block 224, the processor 52 of the DSP component 50 determines if thesector number is greater than a maximum value. If “no” then at block226, the sector number is incremented and the process returns to block202; otherwise, at block 228, the position compensation table isexpanded by interpolating stored data.

Referring to FIG. 6, an exemplary process of compensating speed angleerror is illustrated. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, at block 300, theprocess of compensating speed angle error utilizing speed compensationfactors is started. At block 302, a prime mover 24 speed is set at aminimum pre-determined level. At block 304, a counter is reset byleading edge of zero-crossing detector responsive to PMG phase ‘A’voltage fundamental component. At block 306, counter data is latched byleading edge of zero-crossing detector responsive to a sine waveform ofan electrical angle. At block 308, the processor 52 of the DSP component50 determines if counter data is greater than a pre-determined number.If ‘yes,’ then at block 310, a positive offset increment is set;otherwise, at block 312, a negative offset increment is set.

At block 314, the offset is incremented. At block 316 the incrementedoffset is added to the electrical angle (see block 112 in FIG. 4). Atblock 318, the counter is reset by leading edge of zero-crossingdetector responsive to PMG phase ‘A’ voltage fundamental component. Atblock 320, the counter data is latched by leading edge of zero-crossingdetector responsive to sine waveform of electrical angle. At block 322,the processor 52 of the DSP component 50 determines if the counter datais greater than a previous value. If ‘no,’ then the process returns toblock 314; otherwise, at 324 the offset is stored to a speedcompensation table 74 stored in memory 54 of the DSP component 50.

At block 326, the processor 52 of the DSP component 50 determines if thespeed of the prime mover 24 is greater than a maximum pre-determinedlevel. If ‘no,’ then at block 328 the speed of the prime mover 24 isincremented by a pre-determined level and the process returns to block304; otherwise, at block 330 the speed compensation table 64 is expandedby interpolating stored data.

Benefits of the present disclosure include a DC power generating system20 with a PMG 30 that contains a large number of poles coupled to atwo-pole resolver 34, improved PMG rotor angular position information byproviding the ability to accurately determine position information andto compensate for positional and speed computational errors, asimplified procedure to compensate resolver error due to mechanicalmisalignment of a frameless resolver with a generator rotor, and anautomated procedure that stores corrected resolver position factor datainto a resolver error compensation table(s).

While the present disclosure is described with reference to exemplaryembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, variousmodifications may be applied to adapt the teachings of the presentdisclosure to particular situations, applications, and/or materials,without departing from the essential scope thereof. The presentdisclosure is thus not limited to the particular examples disclosedherein, but includes all embodiments falling within the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of compensating for rotor position errorof a rotor of a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMG) thatprovides electrical power to a direct current (DC) power generatingsystem, the method comprising: obtaining PMG phase voltages and resolverprocessed angular position output signals by a resolver-to-digital (R/D)converter of the DC power generating system when the PMG is driven by aprime mover; selecting a PMG fundamental phase voltage waveform byeliminating higher order harmonics; converting a mechanical angle of arotor into an electrical angle by an electrical angle and frequencyderivation component of the DC power generating system; aligning theelectrical angle within the mechanical angle with a corresponding PMGfundamental phase voltage angle by adjusting offset to the electricalangle; storing a plurality of resolver error offset values associatedwith the electrical angle into a computer readable storage medium of adigital signal processor (DSP) component; and adding additional valuesto the compensation table by interpolating data between twocorresponding resolver error offset values of the plurality of resolvererror offset values by a computer processor of the DSP component.
 2. Themethod set forth in claim 1 further comprising: running the prime moverat a pre-determined speed before obtaining the PMG phase voltages. 3.The method set forth in claim 2 further comprising: feeding anexcitation signal to a resolver rotor coil; feeding sinusoidal andcosine-shaped signals from respective coils of a resolver associatedwith a rotor of the PMG; deriving angular and speed values by the R/Dconverter; and feeding the angular and speed values to the DSP componentbefore running the prime mover.
 4. The method set forth in claim 3,wherein the resolver comprises a two-pole resolver.
 5. The method setforth in claim 4, wherein the resolver is frameless.
 6. The method setforth in claim 3, wherein the PMG includes about twenty-eight poles. 7.A vehicle comprising: a prime mover; a PMG including a rotor coupled tothe prime mover for rotation; a resolver including an excitation coil, afirst coil and a second coil positioned approximately ninety degreesfrom the first coil, and wherein the excitation coil and the first andsecond coils are associated with the rotor; a resolver processing andcompensation system configured to receive sinusoidal and cosine-shapedanalog signals from the respective first and second coils, convert theanalog signals to a digital signal corresponding to an absolute angularposition of the rotor, and compensate for angular position error; a DCelectrical load configured to receive DC power from the resolverprocessing and compensation system; and a vehicle supervisory controllerconfigured to manage DC power distribution.
 8. The vehicle set forth inclaim 7, wherein the DC electrical load comprises an electric tractiondrive.
 9. The vehicle set forth in claim 7, wherein the vehicle is anelectric automobile.
 10. The vehicle set forth in claim 7, wherein thevehicle is a hybrid automobile.
 11. The vehicle set forth in claim 7,wherein the prime mover is an internal combustion engine.
 12. Thevehicle set forth in claim 7, wherein the resolver processing andcompensation system includes a computer readable storage mediumconfigured to store a speed compensation table and a positioncompensation table for storing offset data associated with the angularposition error and used by a computer processor of the resolverprocessing and compensation system to expand the respective speed andposition compensation tables by interpolating the stored offset data.13. A DC power generating system comprising: a PMG including a rotor; aresolver including an excitation coil, a first coil and a second coilpositioned approximately ninety degrees from the first coil, and whereinthe excitation coil and the first and second coils are associated withthe rotor; an excitation component configured to electrically excite theexcitation coil; a resolver-to-digital converter configured to receivefirst and second analog signals from the respective first and secondcoils and convert the first and second analog signals to respectivedigital rotor angle and digital rotor speed signals; and a digitalsignal processor component configured to receive the digital rotor anglesignal and the digital rotor speed signal, convert to an electricalangle and compensate for angular position error of the rotor.
 14. The DCpower generating system set forth in claim 13, wherein the digitalsignal processor component includes a computer processor, and a computerreadable storage medium configured to store a speed compensation tableand a position compensation table for storing offset data associatedwith the angular position error and used by the computer processor toexpand the respective speed and position compensation tables byinterpolating the stored offset data.
 15. The DC power generating systemset forth in claim 14 wherein the angular position error includes aposition angle error and a speed angle error.